CHAPTER TWO

THE HISTORY OF PALI LITERATURE AND

MAHASATIPATTHANA SUTTA

The history of Buddhism begins with the enlightenment of Gotama Buddha at

Bodhgaya, India. He is sometimes called in Sanskrit Sakyamuni Buddha. The
English term 'Buddhism' correctly indicates the way of life by the Buddha.
In fact, 'Buddha' is not a proper name, but a descriptive title meaning
'awakened one' or 'enlightened one'. As 'Buddha' does not refer to a unique
individual. Buddhism is less focused on the person of its founder. The
emphasis in Buddhism is on the teachings of the Buddha and the 'awakening'
of human personality that it leads to.
Gotama Buddha was a historical figure, however there are no
documents to describe his life and work other than canonical Buddhist
writings which are clearly based in favor of Buddhist tradition. Talking about
the life- story of the Buddha, Paul Williams also expresses the same idea "for
what we find [when] we look at the life story of the Buddha is not a historical
narrative but a hagiography, and it is a hagiography that one should read, the
life story of the Buddha. A hagiography (nowadays 'spiritual or religious
biography' appears often to be the preferred expression) is an account of the
life of a saint".'^ The exact dates of his life are still disputed among scholars.
In the past, modem scholars have generally accepted the earlier date, but
there is no firm evidence supporting this consensus nowadays. The Buddhist
sources say that Gotama died either 218 or 100 years before the consecration

'^ Pau Williams, Buddhist ThougJit(London: Routledge, 2000), 26.

15
of Emperor Asoka. From references in Asokan edicts to certain Greek kings,
this can be dated at 268BC. Nowadays, all sources agree that Gotama was
eighty when he died and his dates would be either 566-486BC or 448-
368BC.'^ After getting enlightenment, the Buddha went around teaching his
dhamma. He delivered many dhamma lectures to different kinds of people.
The nature of each lecture depended on the nature and characteristics of the
ones who received it. As mentioned in Sampasadaniya Suttanta, the dialogue
between the Buddha and Sariputta in which he exalts the Buddha as perfect
1S

one in using skillful means for teaching people:

"Moreover, lord, unsurpassable is the way in which the Exalted One teaches the
Norm concerning modes of [receiving] instruction, namely, that there are four such
modes: (1) The Exalted One knows through his own [method of] systematic
thought that given individual, when carrying out what he has been taught, by the
complete destruction of Three Fetters, will become a Stream-winner, saved from
disaster hereafter, certain to attain enlightenment;(2), by the complete destruction
of Three Fetters,...he will become a Once-retumer and returning but once to this
world will make an end of ill, (3) by the complete destruction of the Five Ulterior
Fetters, will be reborn in a deva- world...;(4) by the complete destruction of the
Intoxicants will come to know and realize for himself, even in this life
emancipation of intellect and emancipation of insight, and will be therein abide."'^

'^Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (New Delhi:
Foundation Books, 2004), 9.
'^Z?., ///) 107; ''^Aparam pana, bhante, etadanuttariyam, yatha bhagava dhammam deseti
anusasanavidhasu. Catasso ima bhante anusasanavidha -janati, bhante, bhagava aparam puggalarn
paccattam yonisomanasikara 'ayarn puggalo yathanusittham tatha patipajjamano tinnarn
sarnyojananam parikkhaya sotapanno bhavissati avinipatadhammo niyato sambodhiparayano'ti.
Janati, bhante, bhagava pararn puggalarn paccattam yonisomanasikara - 'ayam puggalo
yathanusittharn tatha patipajjamano tinnam sarnyojananam parikkhaya ragadosamohanam tanutta
sakadagamT bhavissati, sakideva imarn lokarn agantva dukkhassantam karissatT'ti Janati, bhante,
bhagava pararn puggalarn paccattam yonisomanasikara - 'ayam puggalo yathanusittham tatha
patipajjamano pancannarn orambhagiyanam sarnyojananam parikkhaya opapatiko bhavissati tattha
parinibbayTanavattidhammo tasma loka'ti. Janati, bhante, bhagava pararn puggalarn paccattam
yonisomanasikara - 'ayam puggalo yathanusittham tatha patipajjamano asavanarn khaya anasavarn
cetovimuttiiji paMavimuttirn dittheva dhamme sayarn abhiMa sacchikatva upasampajja
viharissatfti Etadanuttariyarn, bhante, anusasanavidhasu."
'^T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.), Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol.III, 102-103.

16
 As awakened religion, the main purpose of Buddhist followers is to get
liberation from suffering or to get enlightenment. The Buddha is said to have
used two illustrations in particular to show how his followers should
understand what his real concerns were in his teachings and how they should
take the teaching that he gave. The first is found in Culmalunkya Sutta
(Lesser Discourse to Malunkyaputta) which is the sixty-third sutta in Pali
Canon known as Majjhima Nikaya. This sutta mentions a monk called
Malunkyaputta. While he was in retreat, he was concerned that the Buddha
had not answered to him some major philosophical questions which are
related to whether the world is eternal, or not eternal; whether the world is
finite, or infinite whether the 'life principle' is the same as the body, or
different from it, and whether the Tathagata exists after death, or does not
exist after death, or both exists and does not exist after death .. .etc. As he did
not get answers to these questions, Malunkyaputta became confused whether
he should continue the life of a monk or not. The Buddha did not answer the
questions because they were "not connected with the goal, were not
ftindamental to the Brahma-faring, and did not conduce to turning away from,
nor to dispassion, stopping, calming, super-knowledge, and awakening nor to
nibbana .The Buddha gave an illustration to explain why he did not answer
these questions to him:
"It is as if a man were pierced by an arrow that was thickly smeared with poison
and his friends and relations, his kith and kin, were to procure a physician and
surgeon. He might speak thus: 'I will not draw out this arrow until I know of the
man who pierced me whether he is a noble or brahma or merchant or worker
...whether he is tall or short or middling in height...'. Malunkyaputta, this man
might pass way or ever this was known to him. In the same way, Malunkyaputta,
whoever should speak thus: 'I will not fare the brahma- fare under the Lord until
the Lord explains to me either that the world is eternal or that the world is not

^° Pau Williams, Buddhist TAougJit(London: Routledge, 2000), 34.

17
 eternal...', this man might pass away, Malunkyaputta, or ever it was explained to
him by the Tathagata."^'
As we see, in this sense, the Buddha is not a philosopher but a doctor,
'the great physician'. The teaching of the Buddha is through and through
goal-oriented. It is entirely dependent upon its goal of liberation from
suffering. Therefore, the Buddha's concern is not discussion. It is not
pondering or mulling things over. It is action, based on an acceptance not of
some abstract philosophizing but rather specifically of the dhamma
rediscovered by the Buddha. When the Buddha said the man would die
before he had answered all these questions, this simile means that before such
questions could be answered, the chance for cure, i.e. liberation, would have
irrevocably passed. So long as one insists on an answer first he or she will
never be liberated. In other way, one will have only chance of liberation
when he or she abandons the search for answers to such questions. As an
enlightened one, the Buddha knows the true nature of dhamma very well. He
knows that the need to attain liberation is the one overriding imperative and
that liberation simply does not require an answer to these questions. This
interpretation is supported by a subsequent comment made in the text:
"The living of the brahma-fare, Malunkyaputta, could not be said to depend on the
view that the world is eternal...Whether there is view that the world is eternal or
whether there is the view that the world is not eternal, there is birth, there is ageing,
there is dying, there are grief, sorrow, suffering, lamentation and despair, the
suppression of which I lay down here and now."^^

The other famous illustration to show the Buddha's attitude to his

teaching is that of the raft. It can be found in the twenty-second sutta of the
Pali Canon's Majjhima Nikaya namely "-Discourse on the Simile of the Water
Snalid'. This sutta mentions a monk named Arittha conceiving the idea that

^'Ibid, 99-100.
^Mbid,100

18
when the Buddha said that sense pleasures are an obstacle to the spiritual path
he was not including in this sexual intercourse. This news came to the
Buddha. He calls Arittha a foolish man and explains how he should
understand his teaching correctly. In this occasion, the Buddha observes and
he sees that anyone would come up with such a misunderstanding of his
teaching; that some people learn his teachings but do not apply them. They
just chat about them or use them to accuse others. Thus, they simply harm
themselves. People often grasp his teachings badly. It is just like one trying to
grab a poisonous snake and catching it not by the head but by the tail. One
simply gets bitten. And he continues by likening his teaching to a raft. A
man should use his teaching as raft to cross the river and come to other side
of river safely (the state of enlightenment). However, after getting to the other
side, that man does not carry the raft with him. He should leave it behind.
Thus, the Buddha says the dhamma is taught for the purpose of crossing over,
not for holding onto. This idea is also mentioned in thirty-eighth sutta of the
Pali Canon's Majjhima Nikaya namely Mahatanhasankhaya sutt£^.

n.l. History of-Pa//Buddhist Literature and the Origin of Mabasatipattbana

Sutta

n. 1.1. History of Pali Buddhist Literature

No doubt, immediately after the death of the Buddha, his teachings were said
to have been recited. A few weeks after the parinibbana of the Buddha, the
first council was held at Rajagrha by direct disciples of the Buddha in order
to fix a canon of religion and of orderly discipline^"*. It is accepted by critical
scholarship that the first council settled the dhamma and Vi'naya and there is
no ground for the view that the Abhidhamma formed part of the canon

" I.B.Homer (trans.), The Collection of the Middle Length Sayings, Vol. I, 316.
^* Maurice Wintemitz, History of Indian Literature {DQWIV. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1999),
6.

19
adopted at the first council. The second council was held at Vaisali a century
after the passing of the Master. According to tradition, they were assembled
into some sort of corpus appropriate for memorization and oral transmission.
They were not written down for some centuries. When Buddhism was firmly
rooted and developed, it was split into different schools of Buddhist
transmission and sometimes understanding. A number of different versions of
the canon corpus were assembled. Thus, scholars speak of e.g. the Theravada
Canon, the Mahasahghika Canon, the Sarvastivada Canon and so on.
However, not all these canonical collections were written down in the same
language. The Sarvastivadins, for example, favored the pan- Indian language
of high and Brahmanic culture and wrote down their Canon in Sanskrit while
the Theravadins favored a Middle Indo-Aryan language which has come to
be known as Pali.

It is likely that the Buddha used several languages for spreading his
teachings. However, the scripture of early Buddhism namely the Pali
Tripitaka has been preserved in organized form. Pali is a literary language of
the Prakrit language family. Some Pali words were coined out of Prakrit
words. The native place of Pali language was North - Western India; and with
advent of Buddhism, the people there adopted the Pali language which
become a lingua franca (common language) among the Buddhist monks of
South Asian countries . When the canonical texts were written down in Sri
Lanka in the first century BCE, Pali stood close to a living language; this is
not the case for the commentaries. Despite excellent scholarship, there is
persistent confusion as to the relation of Pali to the vernacular spoken in the
ancient kingdom of Magadha, which was located around modem-day Bihar.

" Hajime Nakamura, Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes (Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass Publishers, 2007), 23.

20
 Pali as a Middle Indo-Aryan language is different from Sanskrit not so
much with regard to the time of its origin as to its dialectal base, since a
number of its morphological and lexical features betray the fact that it is not a
direct continuation of Rg vedic Sanskrit; rather it descends from a dialect
that was, despite many similarities, different from the Rg-vedic.
The word Pali itself signifies "line" or "canonical text". This name for
the language seems to have its origins in commentarial traditions, wherein the
Pali was distinguished from the commentary or vernacular translation that
followed it in the manuscript. As such, the name of the language has caused
some debate among scholars of all ages; the spelling of the name also varies,
being found with both long "a" and short "a", and also with either a retroflex
[[] or non-retroflex [1] "1" sound. To this day, there is no single, standard
spelling of the term; all four spellings can be found in textbooks. R.C.
Childers translates the word as series and states that the language "bears the
epithet in consequence of the perfection of its grammatical structure".
T. W. Rhys Davids in his book ''Buddhist India", and Wilhelm Geiger
in his book ''Pali Literature and Language", suggested that Pali may have
originated as a form of lingua franca or common language of culture among
people who used differing dialects in North India, used at the time of the
Buddha and employed by him. Another scholar states that at that time it was
"a refined and elegant vernacular of all Aryan-speaking people."^^ Modem
scholarship has not arrived at a consensus on the issue; there are a variety of
conflicting theories with supporters and detractors. After the death of the
Buddha, Pali may have evolved among Buddhists out of the language of the

Kanai Lai. Hazra, Pali Language and Literature: a systematic survey and liistorical study. (New
Delhi: D.K. Printworld Lrd., 1994),19.
"ibid, 11 .
^*Ibid, 1-44.

21
Buddha as a new artificial language?^ R.C. Childers, who held to the theory
that Pali was Old Magadhi, wrote: "Had Gautama never preached, it is
unlikely that Magadhese would have been distinguished from the many other
vernaculars of Hindustan, except perhaps by an inherent grace and strength
which make it a sort of Tuscan among the Prakrits."
According to K.R. Norman, it is likely that the viharas in North India
had separate collections of material, preserved in the local dialect. In the early
period, it is likely that no degree of translation was necessary in
communicating this material to other areas. Around the time of Asoka, there
had been more linguistic divergence, and an attempt was made to assemble
all the material. It is possible that a language quite close to the Pali of the
canon emerged as a result of this process, as a compromise of the various
dialects in which the earliest material had been preserved, and this language
functioned as a lingua franca among Eastern Buddhists in India from then on.
Following this period, the language underwent a small degree of
Sanskritisation.^'
In early history, many Theravada sources refer to the Pali language as
"Magadhan" or the "language of Magadha". This identification first appears
in the commentaries, and may have been an attempt by Buddhists to associate
themselves more closely with the Mauryans. The Buddha taught in Magadha,
but the four most important places in his life are all outside of it. It is likely
that he taught in several closely related dialects of Middle Indo-Aryan, which
had a very high degree of mutual intelligibility. There is no attested dialect of
Middle Indo-Aryan with all the features of Pali. It has some commonalities
with both the Asokan inscriptions at Gimar in the West of India, and at
Hathigumpha, Bhubaneswar, and Orissa in the East. Similarities to the

^' Ibid, 29.

^° Ibid, 20.
31
K.R. Norman, Pali Literature {Otio Harrassowitz, 1983), 1-7.

22
Western inscription may be misleading, because the inscription suggests that
the Asokan scribe may not have translated the material he received from
Magadha into the vernacular of the people there. Whatever the relationship of
the Buddha's speech to Pali, the Canon was eventually transcribed and
preserved entirely in it, while the commentarial tradition that accompanied it
(according to the information provided by Buddhaghosa) was translated into
Sinhalese and preserved in local languages for several generations.
After the Buddha's nibbana, Buddhists held several councils; some
were official and some were non-official. Among them, the important ones
were the first councils at Rajagrha, the second at Vaisall and the third at
Patiliputta. A real canon of sacred texts was compiled probably only during
the third council, which (according to the report of the chronicles of Ceylon),
took place at the time of the famous king Asoka. The Buddhist community
was even in those days, already split to numerous sects and, therefore, it is
probable that the need was felt to compile a canon of texts for the strictly
religious people who wanted to be considered as followers of the original
doctrine of the Buddha.
First of all, the language of our Tipitaka can scarcely be the same as
that of canon of the third century B.C. Buddha himself spoke the dialect of
his native province Kosala and it was most likely in this same dialect that he
first began to proclaim his doctrine. Later on, however, as he wandered and
taught in Magadha (Bihar) he probably preached in the dialect of this
province. We must, however, take into account the fact that, in the early days
of Buddhism, little importance was attached to the linguistic form of texts.
An utterance of Buddha has come down to us, in which he affirms that he

^^ Maurice Wintemitz, History of Indian Literature, Vol. II (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers,
1999), 7.

23
cares not for mere wording, but only for the meaning itself. When in course
of time, the doctrine spread over a large area, the monks of various districts
preached the same in their own dialects. It is probable that monks coming
from Brahmin circles also attempted to translate the speeches of Buddha into
Sanskrit verses. In the Vinayapitaka, however, this procedure is expressed as
a transgression against the monastic discipline, because it "contributes neither
to the conversion of the unconverted nor to the augmentation of the converts"
^'^, and it is declared to be right that each one should learn the doctrine in a
version adapted to his own language . The monks who compiled the canon
in Patiliputta, most probably used an ancient Magadhi dialect. Pali, however,
the literary language of the Buddhists of Ceylon, Burma and Siam, though
called 'Magadhi' by these people themselves, deviates essentially from the
dialect, otherwise known to us through inscriptions, literary works, and
grammarians. On the other hand, it agrees just as little with any other dialect.
The fact is that Pali is a literary language which was exclusively used as such
only by the Buddhists, and like all literary languages, it developed more or
less out of a mixture of dialects. Of course a literary language of this kind,
even if it represents compromise between two different dialects, could at all
events only have proceeded out of one particular dialect. This was very likely
an old Magadhi. The tradition which makes Pali and Magadhi the same,
though it is not to be taken literally, has some historical background.
The time and place of the origin of this literary language cannot be
determined with any degree of certainty. It is probable, that during the period
immediately after Asoka, when Buddhism had already spread throughout the
whole of Central India and in the North West too, it developed as a

" I.B.Homer (trans.), The Collection of the Middle Length Sayings, Vol. II, 289.
^^ Maurice Wintemitz, History of Indian Literature, Vol. II (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers,
1999), 13.
" CuUavagga V, 33; SEE, Vol. 20, 1.

24
compromise between various dialects spoken in this vast territory among the
monks engaged in handing down the territory to the Theravada Canon, It is
for this reason that PaU bears traces of so many different Indo-Aryan dialects.
Although Pali Tripitaka was probably compiled during the third
council about 250 BCE, it was not written down until the first century BCE.
Asoka's son, Mahinda is generally credited with bringing Buddhism to Sri-
lanka. He came to the Island about the middle of the third century BCE.
Buddhism was then introduced and firmly rooted in this Island. Tripitaka was
also handed downfiromgeneration to generation by oral tradition. In 43 BCE,
Srilanka was laid to waste by external aggression and internal turmoil
because a Brahamana named Tissa in Rohana rose in rebellion against
Vattagamanl and at the same time Tamils fi-om south India invaded north.
Apartfi"omthe invasion and internal strife, the whole country was devastated
by a deadly famine during which thousands of people including monks and
nuns perished. People are said to have literally eaten each other at the time of
this calamity. Many Buddhist monuments suffered due to being neglected.
Monks in large numbers migrated to India. The very survival of Buddhism
seemed endangered. The oral tradition of passing the Tripitaka fi-om
generation to generation also did not seem viable any longer. Thus, in order
to preserve the teachings of the Buddha, the far-sighted Mahatheras
assembled at Aluvihara at Matale^^, under the patronage of a local chief,
They engaged 500 reciters and scribes for the accomplishment of the task and
committed to writing the whole of the Tripitaka along with its commentaries
for the first time in history "in order that the true doctrine might endure". The
Pali Tipitaka, prepared as a result of their hard work, still exists as the scared

K.T.S.Sarao, A Text Book of the History of Theravada Buddhism (Delhi: Department of

Buddhist Studies, University of Delhi, 2007), 139.
" K.T.S.Sarao, A Text Book of the History of Theravada Buddhism (Delhi: Department of
Buddhist Studies, University of Delhi, 2007), 140.

25
canon of which the original vanished long ago from India without leaving a
trace.
In the Tipitaka, the Pali-Canon of the Buddhists, most of the speeches
and addresses were attributed to the Buddha himself; it is also told at length
and in detail, where and on which occasion the master delivered a speech or
addressed a gathering. But of all this, what really originated from the Buddha
can perhaps be hardly ever decided. Although none of the works belonging to
the Buddhist literature might have originated from the time of Buddha,
individual texts contained in these works may be considered as the words of
the Buddha. Among the early disciples of the Buddha also there were
certainly some excellent scholars and some of them might be the authors of a
few of the speeches, sayings and poems found among our
collections. Almost the whole of the earliest literature of the Buddhists
consists of collections—collections of speeches or dialogues, of sayings,
songs, stories and rules of the holy order. And the Tipitaka is nothing but a
large collection of such collections. It is evident that the collections can only
be the finale of the long period of literary activity preceding them and that
their constituents must belong to various epoques.

n.1.2. The Origin and Position of the Mabasatipatfbana Sutta

There are different Buddhist canons; however, the only complete canon of an
early Buddhist school surviving in its original Indian language is the Pali
canon. The Theravada school of e.g. Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, and
Cambodia is the representative of this early school of Buddhism that has
survived uptil today. This canon consists of three sections known as Tipitaka.
All contents of the Tipitaka are held to stem from the Buddha himself either
directly or through his active approval of the teaching of other enlightened

^* Maurice Wintemitz, History of Indian Literature, Vol. II (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers,
1999), 5.

26
monks. The first basket is the Vinaya Pi'taka, which mainly treats issues of
monastic discipline. The second one is the Sutta Pi'taka or the section of
discourses. It is divided into four sections known as Nikaya: the Digha,
Majjhima, Samyutta, and Anguttara Nikaya. There is also a supplementary
collection called the Khuddaka Nikaya. The equivalent material to the Nikaya
in collections preserved outside the Pali tradition, particularly in Chinese
tradition called Agamas. Finally, the third basket is Ab/iidJiamwa Pitaka. It
contains lengthy descriptions of how things really are, and how this relates to
the way they appear to be. It deals with issues of causation, unravel the
dynamic nature of things and explains how the world nevertheless hangs
together. It describes the experiential building-blocks which come together to
make up our living world, and how all these relate to issues of moral behavior
and following the path to liberation.
The first four Nikayas or 'collections' have for their contents the
suttai^ or 'doctrinary lectures'. These are either speeches of the Buddha or of
one of his disciples, which are preceded only by a short introduction, in
which is narrated where and on what occasion the Buddha delivered the
speech'**', or they are dialogues with framework narratives. The form of the
suttas is, however, as a rule prose. Only here and there in some suttas, the
prose is interrupted by verses (Gathas) which are partly quotations and partly
verse insertions such as were popular at all times in Indian literature at
specially important places for enhancing the prose.
The DTgha Nikaya, 'the collection of long doctrinary lectures'"*'

^' For sutta, the expression Suttanta is also used often.

"" Hence the typical beginning of every Sutta with the words: "Thus have I heard {evam me sutam)
once the Lord was staying in etc".
"' Edited by T. W. and C. A. F. Rhys Davids and J. E. Carpenter, London PTS, vol. I 1890, Vol. II,
1903, Vol. Ill, 1911. The Suttas 1-25 have been translated by T. W. Rhys Davids, Dialogues of
the Buddha I-III SBB vols. II-IV, London 1899 and 1910 and 1921 into German by K. E.
Neumann, Munich 1907-1918. The Suttas 13, 16 and 17 have already been translated by Rhys
Davids in SBE Vol. XI, p. 158 ff., 235 ff. into German by R. 0. Franke, Gottingen 1913, and P.

27
consists of 34 long suttas, with each individual one treats intensively some
particular point or points of the doctrine and could be as well considered as
an independent work. The whole work is divided into three books, which
differ in contents and character, but all of which contain earlier and later
strata of tradition. The earliest stratum is represented principally in the first
book, and the later one, mainly in the third book, whilst the second book is
composed of the longest suttas some of which have grown into their present
bulk owing to interpolations. The majority of suttas in book I deal with
ethical questions, more especially with virtue isTla), concentration {samadhi)
and insight {panna) which lead to the state of an arhat, the ideal of the devout
life. The ethical doctrines of the Buddha are frequently set up controversially
as against the teachings of the Brahamanas and of other masters.
Mahasatipatthana Sutta or 'the great discourse on the various kinds of
mindfulness' is the twenty second sutta of the Digha Nikaya. In it, Blessed
One urges his disciples to set up mindfulness i^sati). The doctrine expounded
in this sutta may be said to be very important in early Buddhism. The Aryan
Path is obtained by practicing mindfulness only. It then discussed four types
of meditation on impurities and impermanency of body and impermanency of
vedana (sensation), citta (thought) and dhamma (condition).It is the great
instructive lecture on the causes. One of the most important duties of the
Buddhist monk is 'mindfulness'. It also deals with the fundamental doctrines
of Buddhism and closes with a detailed presentation of the four noble truths.
The Mahasatipatthana Sutta is generally regarded as the canonical
Buddhist text with the fullest instructions on the system of meditation unique
to the Buddha's own dispensation. The practice of satipatthana meditation
centers on the methodical cultivation of one simple mental faculty readily

Dhalke "• Suttapitakd' II, Berlin 1920.

28
available to all of us at any moment. This is the faculty of mindfulness, the
capacity for attending to the content of our experience as it becomes manifest
in the immediate present. What the Buddha shows in the sutta is the
tremendous and generally hidden, power inherent in this simple mental
function, a power that can unfold all the mind's potentials culminating in
final deliverance from suffering.
To exercise this power, however, mindfulness must be systematically
cultivated, and the sutta shows exactly how this is to be done. The key to the
practice is to combine energy, mindfulness, and clear comprehension in
attending to the phenomena of mind and body summed up in the "four
arousings of mindfulness": body, feelings, consciousness, and mental objects.
Most of the contemporary meditation teachers explain sati'pattMna mQditation
as a means for generating insight (vipassana). While this is certainly a valid
claim, we should also recognize that satipatthana meditation also generates
concentration (samadhi). Unlike the forms of meditation which cultivate
concentration and insight sequentially, Satipatthana brings both these
faculties into being together. Naturally, in the actual process of development,
concentration will have to gain a certain degree of stability before insight can
exercise its penetrating function. In satipatthana, the act of attending to each
occasion of experience as it occurs in the moment fixes the mind firmly on
the object. The continuous attention to the object, even when the object itself
is constantly changing, stabilizes the mind in concentration, while the
observation of the object in terms of its qualities and characteristics brings
into being the insight knowledge.
The word 'satipatthana' is the name for an approach to meditation
aimed at establishing sati, or mindfulness. The term sati is related to the verb

29
sarati which means to remember or to keep in mind. It is sometimes
translated as non-reactive awareness, free from agendas, simply present with
whatever arises, but the formula for satipatthana doesn't support that
translation. Non-reactive awareness is actually an aspect of equanimity, a
quality fostered in the course of satipatthana. The activity of satipatthana,
however, definitely has a motivating agenda: the desire for awakening, which
is classed not as a cause of suffering, but as part of the path to its ending. The
role of mindfulness is to keep the mind properly grounded in the present
moment in a way that will keep it on the path. To make an analogy,
Awakening is like a mountain on the horizon, the destination to which you
are driving a car. Mindfulness is what remembers to keep attention focused
on the road to the mountain, rather than letting it stay focused on glimpses of
the mountain or get distracted by other paths leading away from the road.
As a compound term, satipatthana can be broken down in two ways,
either as sati-patthana, foundation of mindfiilness; or as sati-upatthana,
establishing of mindfiilness'*^. Scholar's debate as to which is the proper
interpretation, but in practice both provide usefiil food for thought.
The first interpretation focuses on the objects of the meditation
practice, the focal points that provide mindfiilness with a foundation or to use
the more idiomatic English phrase adopted here, a frame of reference.
Altogether there are four: the body in and of itself; feelings in and of
themselves; mind in and of itself; and mental qualities in and of themselves.
The "in and of itself here is crucial. In the case of the body, for instance, it
means viewing the body on its own terms rather than in terms of its function
in the context of the world (for in that case the world would be the frame of
reference). Dropping any concern for how the body's beauty, agility, or

'^ S.N. Goenka, Discourses on Satipatthana Sutta (Igatpuri: Vipassana Research Institute, 2001), 5.
"^T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.) Dialogues of tlie Buddha, Vol.11, 324.

30
strength fits into the world, the meditator simply stays with the direct
experience of its breathing, its movements, its postures, its elementary
properties, and its inevitable decay. A similar principle applies to the other
frames of reference.
The second interpretation of satipatthana {sati-upatthana) focuses on
the process of the meditation practice, on how a frame of reference is
established. This sutta gives three stages for this process, applied to each
frame of reference. The first stage, as applied to the body, is that the monk
remains focused on the body in and of itself ardent, alert, and mindfiil,
putting aside greed and distress with reference to the world. "Remaining
focused" refers to the element of concentration in the practice, as the
meditator holds to one particular frame of reference amid the conflicting
currents of experience. "Ardent" refers to the effort put into the practice,
trying to abandon unskillfiil states of mind and develop skillfril ones in their
stead, all the while trying to discern the difference between the two. 'Alert'
means being clearly aware of what is happening in the present. 'Mindftil'
means to be able to keep the frame of reference continually in mind. As these
qualities work together, they bring the mind to a solid state of concentration.
Although satipatthana practice is often said to be separate from the practice of
jhana mentioned in a number of suttas such as Majjhima Nikaya 125 and
Anguttara Nikaya 8.63, the successful completion of this first stage with the
attainment of the first level of JMna. This point is confirmed by the many
suttas (such as MajjJiima Nikaya 118) which describe how the practice of
satipatt/iana brings to completion the factors for awakening, which coincide
with the factors ofJ/iana.
The second stage of satipatthana practice is to remain focused on the
phenomenon of origination with regard to the body, on the phenomenon of
passing away with regard to the body, or on the phenomenon of origination

31
and passing away with regard to the body. The "phenomena of origination
and passing away" covers events either directly or indirectly related to one's
chosen frame of reference. 'Directly' means changes in the frame of
reference itself For instance, when focused on the body, one may notice the
arising and passing away of breath sensations within it. 'Indirectly', here,
means events in any of the other three frames of reference as they relate to
the body. For example, one might notice the arising and passing away of
feelings of pleasure or mental states of irritation in connection to events in the
body. Or one might notice lapses of mindftilness in one's focus on the body.
In each of these cases, if the origination and passing away is of neutral
events such as the aggregates, one is directed simply to be aware of them as
events, and to let them follow their natural course so as to see what factors
accompany them and lead to their comings and goings. However, when
skillfril or unskillfiil mental qualities such as the factors for awakening or the
hindrances arise and pass away, one is encouraged to foster the factors that
strengthen JAana and eliminate the factors that weaken it. This means actively
getting engaged in maximizing skillfril mental qualities and minimizing
unskillfril ones. One, thus, develops insight into the process of origination
and passing away by taking an active and sensitive role in the process, just as
one learns about eggs by trying to cook with it, gathering experience from the
successes and failures in attempting increasingly difficult dishes.
As this process leads to stronger and more refined states of
concentration, it makes one sensitive to the fact that, greater one's
participation in the process of origination and passing away in the mind, the
grosser is the level of stress that results. This leads one to let go of
increasingly refined levels of participation as one is able to detect them,
leading to the third and final stage in satipatthana practice. This stage
corresponds to a mode of perception that the Buddha in Majjhima Nikaya

32
121 terms "entry into emptiness". Thus, he regards it [this mode of
perception] as empty of whatever is not there. Whatever remains, he discerns
as present: "there is this". This is the culminating equipoise where the path of
the practice opens to a state of non-fashioning and from there to the fruit of
awakening and release. ,
The Satipatthana Sutta (Sanskrit: Smrtyupasthana Sutra, Chinese:
^;^M; The Discourse on the EstabUshing of Mlnd/ulness) and the
Mahasatipatthana Sutta {The Great Discourse on the Estabhshing of
Mindfulness) are two of the most important and widely studied discourses in
the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. The former is also found in the
Agamas of other early schools, and has been embraced by contemporary
Mahayana practitioners such as Thich Nhat Hanh.'^'^ These discourses provide
a means for practicing mindfiilness in a variety of contexts and potentially
continuously. Famously, the Buddha declares at the beginning of this
discourse:
"Ekayano ayam, bhikkhave, maggo sattanam visuddhiya, sokaparidevanam
samatikkamaya dukkhadomanassanarn atthangamaya Myassa adhigamaya
nibbanassa sacchikiriyaya, yadidam cattaro satipatthana'^^
(The one and only path, Bhikkhus leading to the purification of beings, to passing
far beyond grief and lamentation, to the dying-out of ill and misery, to the
attainment of right method, to the realization of Nirvana, is that of the Fourfold
Setting up of Mindfulness/^

'*' Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist who
now lives in France where he was in exile for many years. He is a very famous master of
meditation who follows the practice of mindfulness. He has published more than 100 books,
including more than 40 in English. Some of them are Vietnam: Lotus in a sea of fire (New York,
Hill and Wang. \961),Being Peace, (Parallax Press, 1987), Tlie Sun M K ^ea/t (Parallax Press,
\n%),The Miracle of Mindfulness (J&xAQv^ooks, 1991), Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the
Footsteps of the Buddha (Parallax Press, 1991), Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in
Everyday Life (Bantam reissue, 1992),7fie Diamond That Cuts Through Illusion, Commentaries
on the Prajnaparamita Diamond Sutra, (Parallax Press, \992), Transformation and Healing: Sutra
on the Four Establishments of Mind fulness (¥\x\\ Circle, 1997).
"' Dfgha Nikaya,n, Pali Text Society,288.
"•^ T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.) Dialogues of the Buddha, VoI.II, 325.

33
 This discourse was delivered by The Buddha at Kammassadhamma
which is a city of the Kuru country {Evam me sutam - ekam samayam
bhagava kurusu viharati kammasadhammam nama kurunam nigamo) . Kuru
was the name of an Indo-Aryan clan in Iron Age Vedic India, and later a
republican Mahajanapada state. The Kuru clan was located in the area of
modem Haryana state, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh state in North India.
The Kuru kingdom figures in the list of the sixteen great kingdoms, the
Mahajanapadas of the early Buddhist Anguttara Nikaya. At the time of
Buddha, the Kuru realm was only three hundred leagues in extent. Legendary
Buddhist stories -the Jatakas attest that the capital of the Kurus was
Indraprastha (Indapatta) near modem Delhi. It extended for seven leagues.
The other city in the realm was Hatthinipura i.e. Hastinapura. The reigning
king Dhananjaya is stated as prince from the race of Yudhithira. But he was
merely a titular chieftain (king consul).
During Buddha's time, Ratthapala, son of the Kum mler had embraced
Buddhism. Buddism was quite developed in this country at that time. The
Buddha taught important and profound discourses to the Kums such as the
''Mahasatipatthana Suttd\ the Great Discourse on the Foundation of
Mindfulness, ''Mahanidana Sutti\ The Great Discourse on Causation, and
""Anehjasappaya Sutti\ the Way to the Imperturbable. Other discourses, as
recorded in the Pali canon, taught by the Buddha in the Kums are Magandiya
Sutta, Ratthapala Sutta, Sammasa Sutta, Dutiya Ariyavasa Sutta.

n.2. The main doctrine in Mahasatipattbana Sutta

n.2.1. The First Noble Tmth: Suffering

The four noble tmths (cattari ariyasaccani) are one of the central teachings of
the Buddhist tradition. The teachings on the four noble tmths explain the

'*' Drgha Nikaya,l\, Pali Text Society,288.

34
nature of dukkha meaning "suffering", "anxiety", "stress", its causes, and
how it can be overcome.
According to the Buddhist tradition, the Buddha first taught the four
noble truths in the very first teaching he gave after he attained enUghtenment,
as recorded in Dhammacakkappayattana Sutta (The Setting in Motion the
Wheel of the Dhamtna) in the Sutta Pitaka's Samyutta Nikayi^ and he
further clarified their meaning in many subsequent teachings. The four noble
truths are regarded as central to the teachings of Buddhism. They can be
compared to the footprints of an elephant: just as the footprints of all the
other animals can fit within the footprint of an elephant, in the same way, all
of the teachings of the Buddha are contained within the teachings on the four
noble truths. The four noble truths provide a conceptual framework for
Buddhist thought.
According to tradition, the Buddha taught the four noble truths
repeatedly throughout his lifetime, continually expanding and clarifying their
meaning. The heart of the Buddha's teaching lies in the four noble truths
which he expounded in his very first sermon to his old colleagues, the five
ascetics, at Isipatana (modem Samath) near Benares. In this sermon, as we
have it in the original texts, these four truths are given briefly. There are
innumerable places in the early Buddhist scriptures where they are explained
over and again, with greater detail and in different ways such as in, '^^(The
Lesser Discourse on the Stems Anguish), and Mahasatipatthana Sutta^^ (the
Great Discourse on the Foundation of Mindfulness).
The four noble truths are dukkha (pain or suffering), samudaya (the
origin of pain or suffering), nirodha (its cessation), and magga literally path
or way, to the cessation pain or suffering. The first truth deals with dukkha,

''*Mrs.C..A..F..Rhys Davids, (trans.), The Book of the Kindred Sayings, Vol.V, 356.
"'l.B.Homer (trans.). Tie Collection of the Middle Length Sayings, Vol. 1,119.
^° T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.) Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol.11, 322 .

35
which for need of a better English equivalent, is rendered as suffering or
sorrow. As a feeling, dukkha means that which is difficult to be endured {du
= difficult, kha = to endure). As an abstract truth, dukkha is used in the sense
of 'contemptible' {du) and 'emptiness' {kha). The world rests on suffering
hence it is contemptible. The world is devoid of any reality hence it is empty
or void. Dukkha, therefore, means contemptible void. The Buddha gives
definition of the first holy truth in Mahasatipatthana Sutta:
"Jatipi dukkha, jarapi dukkha, maranampi dukkham,
sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupayasapi dukkha, appiyehi sampayogopi dukkho,
piyehi vippayogopi dukkho [appiyehi...pe... vippayogo dukkhotipatho ceva
tarnniddeso ca katthaci na dissati, atthakathayampi tamsamvannana nattiii],
yampiccham na labhati tampi dukkham, sankhittena pancupadanakkhandha
[paiicupadanakkhandhapi (ka.)] dukldia. '^'
Birth is dukkha, ageing is dukkha, sickness is dukkha, death is dukkha;
lamentation, pain, grief and despair are dukkha; association with what one
dislikes is dukkha, separation from what one likes is dukkha, not to get what
one wants is dukkha; in short, the five groups of grasping (which make up a
person) are dukkha . Here the word dukkha refers to all those things which
are unpleasant, imperfect, and which we would like to be otherwise. It is both
'suffering' and the general 'unsatisfactoriness' of life. The first truth
essentially points out that suffering is inherent in the very fabric of life.
The first features described as dukkha are basic biological aspects of
being alive, each of which can be painful and traumatic. The dukkha of these
is compounded by the rebirth perspective of Buddhism, for this involves
repeated re-birth, re-ageing, re-sickness and re-death. The second set of
features refers to physical or mental pain that arises fi-om the vicissitudes of
life. The third set of features described as dukkha point to the fact that we can

'' DTgha Nikaya,\\, Pali Text Society,305.

" T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.) Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol.11, 338

36
never wholly succeed in keeping away things, people and situations that we
dislike, in holding on to those whom we like, and in getting what we want.
The changing, unstable nature of life is such that we are led to experience
dissatisfaction, loss, and disappointment: in a word, frustration.
Pain being a sensation, and hence indefinable, it will be observed that
the text of the first truth is not so much a definition as simply an enumeration
of some of the most prominent occasions, forms, and expressions of
suffering. Little explanation is therefore required. Being now in the realm of
method we are concerned not with the elucidation and theoretical
understanding of concepts but with the concentration of the mind upon
certain select aspects of experience. Refinements in theoretical analysis may
sometimes become a means not of understanding facts but of escaping fi"om
them, especially when- they happen to be unpleasant. The Buddha in his
wisdom therefore 'explained' the first aryan truth by simply elaborating upon
its description of the different types and phases of suffering e.g. The birth of
beings belonging to this or that order of beings, their being bom, their
conception and springing into existence, the manifestation of the groups of
existence, the arising of sense acfivity: this is called birth^^. The decay of
beings belonging to this or that order of beings, their getting aged, frail, grey,
and wrinkled; the failing of their vital force, the wearing out of the senses:
this is called decay^'*. The departing and vanishing of beings out of this or
that order of beings, their destruction, disappearance, death, the completion of
their life-period, the dissolution of the groups of existence, the discarding of

" Ya tesam tesam sattanam tamhi tamhi sattanikaye jati sanjati okkanti abhinibbatti khandhanam
patubhavo ayatananam patilabho, ayam vuccati, bhikkhave, jati,{DTgha Nikaya,U,305, Pali Text
Society).
Ya tesam tesam sattanam tamhi tamhi sattanikaye Jara jFranata khandiccam paliccam valittacata
ayuno samhani indriyanam paripako, ayam vuccati, bhikkhave, jara, {Dlgha Nikaya,U,306, Pali
Text Society).

37
the body: this is called death.^^ Average men are only surface-seers. A noble
one sees things as they truly are. For him, the whole life is suffering and he
finds no real happiness in this world which deceives mankind with illusory
pleasures. Material happiness is merely the gratification of some desire. No
sooner is the desired thing gained than it begins to be scomed^^. Insatiate are
all desires. All are subject to birth (jati), and consequently to decay (jara),
disease (vyadhi), and finally to death (marana). No one is exempted fi*om
these four inevitable causes of suffering.
Impeded wish is also suffering. We do not wish to be associated with
things or persons we detest, nor do we wish to be separatedfi*omthings or
persons we love. Our cherished desires are not, however, always gratified,
What we least expect or what we least desire is often thrust on us. At times
such unexpected, unpleasant circumstances become so intolerable and painful
that weak ignorant folk are compelled to commit suicide as if such an act
would solve the problem,
Real happiness is found within, and is not to be defined in terms of
wealth, power, honors or conquests. If such worldly possessions are forcibly
or unjustly obtained, or are misdirected, or even viewed with attachment, they
will be a source of pain and sorrow for the possessors.
"Sankhittena pancupadanakkhandha ...dukkha'^\in a word, the Five
Groups that arise from grasping are connected with painf^,\\. is referring to
duiddia in the subtlest sense. The five groups of grasping are the five factors
which go to make up a person. Buddhism holds, thus, that none of the
phenomena which comprise personality is fi-ee fi"om 'unsatisfactoriness'.

" Yaqi [atthakatha oloketabba] tesatji tesairi sattanam tamha tamha sattanikaya cud cavanata
bbedo antaradhSnam maccu maranam kalakin'ya kbandhanam bhedo kalevarassa nikkhepo
jTvitindriyassupacchedo, idairi vuccati, bhikkhave, maranam, {DTgha N/kaya,ll,307, Pali Text
Society).
'* Narada, The Buddha and His teachings {Munhav. Jaico Publishing House, 2010), 209.
" DTgha Nikaya,\\,305, Pali Text Society.
'* T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.) Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol.11, 338

38
Each factor is a group or aggregate (khandha) of related states, and each is an
object of grasping (upadana) so as to be identified as ' m e ' , ' I', or 'myself.
To aid understanding of dukkha, Buddhism gives details of each of the
five factors of personality. The first is rupa (material shape or form). This
refers to the material aspect of existence, whether in the outer world or in the
body of a living being. It is said to be comprised of four basic elements or
forces, and forms of subtle, sensitive matter derived fi'om these. The four
basics are solidity (literally earth), cohesion (water), energy (fire) and motion
(wind). From the interaction of these, the body of flesh, blood, bones, etc. is
composed.
The remaining four personality factors are all mental in nature; for they
lack any physical form. The second factor is vedana (feeling). This is the
hedonic tone or taste of any experience: pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. It
includes both sensations arising from the body and mental feelings of
happiness, unhappiness or indifference. The third factor is sanna, which
processes sensory and mental objects, so as to classify and label them, for
example as yellow, a man, or fear. It is cognition, recognition and
interpretation (including misinterpretation of objects). Without it, a person
might be conscious but would be unable to know what he was conscious of
The fourth personality factor is the sankhara's, or constructing activities.
These comprise a number of states which initiate action or direct, mould and
give shape to character. They include very active states such as
determination, joy and hatred, and also more passive states such as attention
and sensory stimulation. While some are ethically neutral, many are ethically
skilful or unskillful. The most characteristic constructing activity is cetana
(will or volition), which is identified with kamma.

Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (New Delhi:
Foundation Book Pvt. Ltd., 2004), 49.

39
 The fifth and final factor of personaHty is vinmna (discriminative
consciousness). This includes both the basic awareness of a sensory or mental
object, and the discrimination of its basic aspects or parts, which are actually
recognized by sanna. It is of six types according to whether is conditioned by
eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind-organ. It is also known as citta, the
central focus of personality which can be seen as mind, heart or thought. This
is essentially a mind set or mentality; some aspects of which alter from
moment to moment, but others recur and are equivalent to a person's
character. Its form at any moment is set up by the other mental khandhas, but
in turn it goes on to determine their pattern of arising, in a process of constant
interaction.
Much Buddhist practice is concerned with the purification,
development and harmonious integration of the factors of personality,
through the cultivation of virtue and meditation. In time, however, the five-
fold analysis is used to enable a meditator to gradually transcend the naive
perception with respect to himself or another of a unitary 'person' or 'self.
In place of this, there is set up the contemplation of a person as a cluster of
changing physical and mental processes or dhammas, thus undermining
grasping and attachment, which are key causes of suffering.
Ordinarily the enjoyment of sensual pleasures is the highest and only
happiness for an average person. There is, no doubt, a momentary happiness
in the anticipation, gratification, and recollection of such fleeting material
pleasures, but they are illusory and temporary. According to the Buddha non-
attachment (viragata) or the transcending of material pleasures is a greater
bliss.
In brief, this composite body itself is a cause of suffering. This first
truth of suffering which depends on this so-called being and various aspects
of life is to be carefully analyzed and examined. This examination leads to a

1-^ /
40
. .^SS;
proper understanding of oneself as one really is.

n.2.2. The Second Noble Truth: The Origin of Suffering

In the discourse of Mahasatipatthana Sutta, the Buddha identifies the origin

(samudaya) or cause of dukkha as follows:
"Katamanca, bhikkhave, dukkhasamudayam [dukkhasamudayo (sya.)]
ariyasaccam? Yayam tanha ponobbhavika [ponobhavika (sT. pi.)]
nandiragasahagata [nandiragasahagata (sL sya. pT.)] tatratatrabhinandim,
seyyathidam -kamatanha bhavatanha vj'bMvatanha'^^
(And what, bhikkhus, is the Aryan Truth concerning the coming to be of ill? Even
this craving, potent for rebirth, that is accompanied by lust and self-indulgence,
seeking satisfaction now here now there, to wit, the craving for the life of sense,
the craving for becoming (renewed life), and the craving for not becoming (for no
rebirth)) ^'
It is this craving {tanha) giving rise to rebirth, accompanied by delight
and attachment, finding delight now here, now there. It literally means thirst,
and clearly refers to demanding desires or drives which are ever on the
lookout for gratification. These lead to suffering in a number of ways. First,
they lead to the suffering of fi-ustration, as their demands for lasting and
wholly satisfying fulfillment are perpetually disappointed by a changing and
unsatisfactory world. Second, they motivate people to perform various
actions, whose karmic results lead on to further rebirths, with their attendant
dukkha. Third, they lead to quarrels, strife and conflict between individuals
and groups. This craving is a powerful mental force latent in all, and is the
chief cause of most of the ills of life. It is this craving, gross or subtle, that
leads to repeated births in samsara and makes one cling to all forms of life.
In this sermon. The Buddha identifies three types of craving: craving
for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, and craving for non-existence.

^^ DTgha Nikaya,l\, 308, Pali Text Society.

^' T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.) Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. II, 339-340.

41
The second type refers to the drive for self-protection, for ego-enhancement,
and for eternal life after death as me. The third is the drive to get rid of
unpleasant situations, things and people. In a strong form, it may lead to the
impulse for suicide, the rejection of one's whole present life situation. Such a
craving, ironically, helps cause a further rebirth, whose problems will be as
bad as, or worse than, the present ones. In order to overcome dukkha, the
Buddhist path aims not only to limit the expression of craving, but ultimately
to use calm and wisdom to completely uproot it from the psyche.
Thus, it is clear that suffering is the effect of craving which is the
cause. Here we see seed and fruit, action and reaction, cause and effect, a
reign of natural law, and this is no great mystery. Now, this most powerful
force, this mental factor, craving or thirst, keeps existence going. It makes
and remakes the world. Life depends on the desires of life. It is the motive
force behind not only the present existence, but past and future existence, too.
The present is the result of the past, and the future will be the result of the
present. This is a process of conditionality. This force is compared to a river
(tanha-nadi); for like a river that when in flood submerges villages, suburbs,
towns and countries, craving flows on continuously through re-existence and
re-becoming. Like fuel that keeps the fire burning, the fuel of craving keeps
the fire of existence alive. The Buddha says:
''Naham, bhikkhave, annam ekasamyojanampi samanupassami yena [yenevam
(sya.)] samyojanena samyutta satta drgharattam sandhavanti samsaranti
yathayidam, bhikkhave, tanhasamyojanarn [tanhasamyojanena (?)].
Tanhasamyojanena hi, bhikkhave, samyutta satta drgharattam sandhavanti
samsarantr^^
(Monks, I do not see any other single fetter bound by which beings for a long, long
time wander and hurry though the round of existence, like this fetter of craving
{tanha samyojanam). Truly, monks, bound by this fetter of craving, beings do

62
Khuddaka Nikaya, Itivuttakapali,%, Pali Text Society.

42
 wander and hurry through the round of existence.)
It is important to understand that here, craving here is not regarded as
the first cause because according to Buddhism, there is no 'first cause' but
beginingless causes and effects. Things are neither due to one single cause
nor are they causeless, but as explained in the formula of dependent arising,
things are multiple-caused. Craving, like all other things, physical or mental,
is also conditioned, interdependent and relative. It is neither a beginning nor
an end in itself Though craving is cited as the proximate cause of suffering, it
is not independent, but interdependent. Craving arises dependent on feeling
or sensation; feeling arises dependent on contact and so forth.
The doctrine of dependent origination or conditioned arising
(paticcasamuppada) is strongly related to the four holy truths; particularly the
second. The key sources for this doctrine are the Nidana Samyutta^ and the
Mahanidana Sutt£^. The understanding of conditioned arising is so central to
Buddhist practice and development that the Buddha said repeatedly whoever
sees conditioned arising sees dhamma, whoever sees dhamma sees
conditioned arising {yo paticcasamuppadam passati so dhammam passati; yo
dhammam passati so paticcasamuppadam passatif^. Moreover, the Buddha
referred to it and nibbana as the profound, difficult to see dhamma
understood by him at his enlightenment , and taught that rebirth continues
until such understanding is attained. The Buddha himself expressed the
doctrine as appears in the Anguttara Nilcaya:
"Katawanca, bhikkhave, dukkhasamudayam [dukkliasamudayo (sya. kam.)]
ariyasaccam? Avijjapaccaya sankhara, sankharapaccaya vj'nnanam,
vinnanapaccaya namarupam, namarupapaccaya salayatanam, sajayatanapaccaya

" Piyadasssi Thera, The Buddha's Ancient Path {DeM: Bharayati Kala Prakashan, 2009),52.
^ Saniyutta Nikaya, II, 1-113,Pali Text Society.
" DTgha Nikaya, II, 55-71, Pali Text Society.
^ Majjhima- Nikaya, I, 191,Pali Text Society.
*' Majjhima- Nikaya, I, 167,Pali Text Society.

43
 phasso, phassapaccaya vedana, vedanapaccaya tanha, tanhapaccaya upadanam,
upadanapaccaya bhavo, bhavapaccaya jati, jatipaccaya jaramaranam
sokaparidevadukkhadomanassupayasa sambhavanti. Evametassa kevalassa
dukkhakkhandhassa samudayo boti. Idam vuccati, bhikkhave, dukkhasamudayam
ariyasaccam. '^*
Conditioned by ignorance, the activities come to be: conditioned by the
activities, consciousness: conditioned by consciousness, name-and-shape:
conditioned by name-and-shape, the sixfold sphere of sense: conditioned by
the sixfold sphere of sense, contact: conditioned by contact, feeling:
conditioned by feeling, craving: conditioned by craving, grasping: condi-
tioned by grasping, becoming: conditioned by becoming, birth: conditioned
by birth, old age and death, sorrow, grief, woe, lamentation and despair come
to pass. This is the arising of the whole mass of suffering. This is called the
Ariyan truth of the arising of suffering*'^. In its abstract form, the doctrine
states that being, this comes to be; from the arising of that, this arises; that
being absent, this is not; from the cessation of that, this ceases^°. This states
the principle of conditionality, that all things, mental and physical, arise and
exist due to the presence of certain conditions, and cease once their
conditions are removed: nothing (except nibbana) is independent. The
doctrine thus complements the teaching that no permanent, independent self
can be found. The main concrete application of the abstract principle is in the
form of a series of conditioned and conditioning links (nidana 's), culminating
in the arising of dukkha. A standard formula of twelve links is most common,
but there are also variations on this, which emphasize the contribution of
other conditions. These variations show that the 'that' of the abstract formula
is not a single determining cause, but a major condition, one of several. Each

^^ Aiiguttara Nikaya,\,\16, Pali Text Society.

*' E.M.Hare (trans.), The Book of Gradual Sayings,Mo\. 1,160.
™ Samyutta NikayaJI, 28 Pali Text Society.

44
is a necessary condition for the arising of tliis, but none is alone sufficient for
this to happen. The standard formula begins 'Conditioned by spiritual
ignorance are the constructing activities; conditioned by the constructing
activities is consciousness', and then continues through a series of other
conditions. The series thus runs: (1) spiritual ignorance->(2)constructing
activities-^(3) (discriminative) consciousness^(4) mind-and-body-^(5) the
six sense-bases ^ (6) sensory stimulations-^ (7) feeling-> (8) craving-> (9)
grasping "^(10) existence^(ll) birth^ (12) ageing, death, sorrow,
lamentation, pain, grief and despair. This is the origin of the whole mass of
dukkha. After the formula is given in forward order, it follows in reverse
order. In this form, it describes how the cessation of dukkha comes about due
to the complete cessation of spiritual ignorance and the consequent cessation
of each following nidana.
This formula explains how dukkha, the subject of the first holy truth,
comes about, this origination being the subject of the second truth. The
formula in reverse order describes the cessation of dukkha, namely nibbana,
the subject of the third truth. It is also said that the holy eightfold path, the
subject of the fourth truth, is the way going to the cessation of each of the
twelve links, and thus of dukkha. There is even a version of conditioned
arising which continues beyond link twelve to say that, based on dukkha,
faith arises. That is, faith in the Buddha's teaching arises from the experience
and understanding of dukkha. From faith, other states successively arise
which are part of the path to the end of dukkha: gladness, joy, serenity,
happiness, meditative concentration, and deepening states of insight and
detachment. The doctrine thus unites the four truths, and makes possible a
methodological science of moral and spiritual life. By becoming aware of
how one is conditioned, one can come to alter the row of conditions by
governing, suspending or intensifying them so as to reduce dukkha, and

45
ultimately stop it entirely by transcending the conditions. Thus, the doctrine
of dependent arising makes plain how suffering arises due to causes and
conditions, and, how suffering ceases with the removal of its causes and
conditions.
As explained in the dependent arising, the proximate of craving is
feeling or sensation. Craving has its source. All forms of appetite are included
in tanha (craving).Greed, thirst, desire, lust, burning, yearning, longing,
inclination, and affection are some of the many terms that denote tanha vAiich.
in the word of the Buddha leads to becoming (behavenetti). Becoming, which
manifests itself as dukkha, as suffering, frustration, painful excitement,
unsatisfactoriness, is our own experience.
The enemy of the whole world is lust, craving, or thirst throught which
all evils come to living beings. It is not only for attachment to pleasures
caused by the senses, wealth and property and by the wish to defeat others
and conquer countries, but also attachment to ideals and ideas, to opinions
and beliefs (dhamma-tanha) which often lead to calamity and destruction and
bring untold suffering to a whole nation, in fact to the whole world.
Where does this craving arise and take root? The Buddha says; "In
those material things of this world which are dear to us, which are pleasant.
There does craving take its rise, there does it dweH"^'(ya^ loke piyarupam
satarupam, etthesa tanha uppajjamana uppajjati, ettha nivisamana
nivisati.) The eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind because it is through
these avenues, the fivefold bases, that man cognizes the sense objects, the
external world, and through the mind door, as the sixth, he entertains ideas
and thoughts. There craving arises and takes root. Forms, sounds, smells,
tastes, bodily contacts and ideas are delightful and pleasurable and there

^' T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.) Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. 11,340

" Dfgha N/kaya,U,30S, Pali Text Society.

46
craving arises and takes root.
Man is always attracted by the pleasant and the delightful, and in his
search for pleasure, he runs after the five kinds of sense objects; cognizes
ideas and clings to them. He little realizes that no amount of forms, sounds,
smells, tastes, tangibles and mental objects; or ideas will satisfy the eye, ear,
nose, tongue, body and mind. Beings in their intense thirst for either
possession or the satisfaction of desires, become bound to the wheel of
existence, are twisted and torn between the spokes of agony and securely
close the door to final deliverance. The Buddha was most emphatic against
this mad rush, and warned:
"Pleasure is a bond, ajoy that's brief,
Oflittle taste, leading to drawn- our pain.
The wise know the hook is baited.
Whenever craving for these objects is connected with the pleasure it is
called sensuous craving (kama-Tanha). When it is associated with the belief
in eternal personal existence then it is called craving for existence and
becoming (bhava tanha). This is what is known as the view of etemalism
{sassata ditthi), attachment to becoming, and the desire for continuing
exitence forever. When craving as associated with the belief of 'self-
annihilation' it is called craving for non-existence (vibhava tanha). This is
what is known as the view of annihilationism (uccheda-ditthi).
It may be remembered that craving is conditioned not only by
pleasurable and agreeable feelings, but also by unhappy unpleasant feelings,
a man in distress craves to get rid of it and longs for happiness and release.
To put it another way, the poor and the needy, the sick and the disabled, in
brief, all sufferers crave for happiness, pleasure and solace. On the other
hand, the rich and the healthy who are already experiencing pleasure, also

" Suttanipata,6\.

41
crave, but for more and more acute pleasure. Thus this thirst, this craving, is
insatiable, and people pursue fleeting pleasures, constantly seeking fuel for
this life flame. Their greed is inordinate.
The more we crave, the more we suffer; sorrow is tribute we have to
pay for having craved. Therefore, know this craving as your foe, guides you
to be continued and repeated sentient existence, to rebirth, thus building the
'house of being'. The Buddha said: 'Dig up the root of craving' {Tanhaya
mulam khanatha)'^. Craving begets sorrow, craving begets fear. For those
who are free from craving; there is no sorrow and fear.
" Tanhaya jay at! soko
Tanhaya jayatT bhayam
Tanha vippamuttassa
Natthi soko kuto bhayam"
So long as man is attached to existence through his ignorance, and
craving to him, death is not the final end. He will continue his career of
whirling round the 'wheel of existence'. This is the endless play of action and
reaction kept in perpetual motion by kamma concealed by ignorance
propelled by craving or thirst. As kamma, or action is of our own making, we
have the power to break this endless chain. It is through the eradication of
ignorance (avijja) and of this driving force, craving, this thirst of existence,
this will to live (tanha) that the cycle of existence (samsara) ceases. The
Buddha explains that by the cessation of ignorance, by the arising of know-
ledge (vijja), by the cessation of craving there is thus no rebecoming in the
future.^^

n.2.3. The Third Noble Truth: The Cessation of Suffering or Nibbana

In above parts, we discussed suffering and its arising. Let us now try to

""^ Daw Mya Tin (trains.), The Dhammapada: Verses & stories (Delhi: Sri Satguru
Publications, 1990),73.
" I.B.Homer (trans.), 77fa Collection of the Middle Length Sayings, Vol. I, 359.

48
understand the meaning of the third noble truth or the cessation of suffering
(dukkha-nirodha) which is known as nibbana (Sanskrit nirvana). The
etymological meaning of the latter is given as nir^vana. 'A5r'means leaving
off, without or being free; ' Vana' means the path of rebirth, forest, weaving
or stench or stink. Therefore, Nibbana has the nature of being away from the
path of rebirth permanently avoiding all paths of transmigration; to be in a
state which has got rid of, forever, the dense forest of the three fires of lust,
malice and delusion; freedom from the knot of the vexations of Icamma and in
which the texture of both birth and death is not to be woven; and being
without and free from all stench of Icamma.
Though the Pali and Sanskrit etymological meanings may help us
understand the term, they do not help us realize the bliss of nibbana.
Realization comes only through the noble eightfold path which has three
divisions of virtue (sTla), concentration (samadtii), and wisdom (panfia).
Nibbana is a dhamma, an experience that cannot be explained because of its
subtlety. It is known as the supramundane (lolcuttara), the absolute, the
unconditioned (asamldiata). Nibbana is to be realized by the wise, each one
individually.
The third noble truth is expressed in the IVfatiasatipattiiana Sutta as
follows: " Yo tassayeva tanhaya asesaviraganirodJio cago patinissaggo mutti
analayo. ''''^(This, monks, is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: The
complete cessation (nirodiio), giving up (cago), abandoning (patinissaggo),
release (mutti) and detachment (analayo) from that very craving.)^^ That is
when craving, and related causes come to an end, dukkha ceases. This is
equivalent to nibbana, also known as the 'unconditioned' or 'unconstructed',
the ultimate goal of Buddhism. To strive for this, admittedly a subtle craving

''^ DTgha MXaKa,II,310, Pali Text Society.

" T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.) Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. II, 341.

49
for it is needed, which helps in the overcoming of other cravings. On the
brink of nibbana, however, even craving must be transcended: Nibbana is
only attained when there is total non-attachment and letting go. The Buddha
says: ""etthesa tanha pahiyamana pahlyati, ettha nirujjhamana
nirujjhatf^(JAQYQ may this craving be put away, here does it cease)^^. It is
clear from the above that nirodha or nibbana is the extinction of craving
(tanha). As we have seen in the previous part (on the second noble truth),
craving is cause of suffering. With the giving craving one also gives up
suffering and all that pertains to suffering. The Buddha says: Here may this
craving be put away, here does it cease. Nibbana, therefore, is explained as
the extinction of suffering.
Nibbana literally means 'extinction' or 'quenching', being the word for
the 'extinction' of a fire. The 'fires' of which nibbana is the extinction are
described in the 'fire sermon'. This teaches that everything internal and
external to a person is 'burning' of attachment, hatred, and delusion, and of
birth, ageing and death. Here the 'fires' refer both to the causes of dulddia
and to dulddia. Attachment and hatred are closely related to craving for
things, craving to be rid of things, and delusion is synonymous with spiritual
ignorance. Nibbana during life is frequently defined as the extinction of these
o1

three 'fires' or defilements. When one who has destroyed these dies, he
cannot be reborn so the remaining 'fires' of birth, ageing and death, having
attained nibbana.
Nibbana is a simple thing like the taste of sugar cannot be made known
to one who has no previous experience of it by advising him to read a book
on the chemistry of sugar. But if he puts a small lump on his tongue, he will
^* DFgha Nikaya,\\, 310, Pali Text Society.
" T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.) Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. II, 342.
*" Vinaya Pitaka, I, 34-35,Pali Text Society .
*' Samyutta Nikaya, rV125, Pali Text Society.

50
experience the sweet taste and no more theorizing on sugar is needed.
A question that a Buddhist or a non-Buddhist often asks is "what is
nibbana? This is not a question of today or yesterday. Clever answers may be
given and nibbana may be explained in glowing terms, but no amount of
theorizing will bring one a whit nearer to it, for it is beyond words, logic and
reasoning. It is easier and safer to speak of what nibbana is not, for it is
impossible to express it in words. Nibbana is ineffable and incommunicable.
In our attempt to explain it, we use words which have limited meanings,
words connected with the cosmos, whereas nibbana- the absolute reality,
which is realized through the highest mental training and wisdom, is beyond
any cosmic experience, beyond the reach of speech.
It may be noted that though negative terms are often used to describe
nibbana, they do not imply that nibbana is mere annihilation of a self After
all negation is not an absolute void or a vacuum, but simply the absence of
something. An araJiat who has realized nibbana isfi"eefi-omcraving. Craving
no more exists in him, and this is not mere nothingness, or annihilation of
self, because there is no self to be annihilated.
It is also evident fi"om the texts that positive terms like Idiemam
(security), suddhi (purity), santi (peace), vimutti (release) are used to denote
the unconditioned. Nevertheless, the real significance of these terms is to the
known experiences of the sentient world. All definitions are from our
experience of the pheriomenal world. A worldly conception of things is
samsaric, which is belonging to existence or becoming. So, all these
conceptions concerning nibbana also are in terms of becoming and therefore
one cannot have a true picture of nibbana. All his thoughts, and words are
limited, conditioned, and cannot be applied to the unproduced,
unconditioned, uncompounded nibbana.
Nibbana are of two kinds namely nibbana element with a basis

51
remaining {sopadisesa *^ nibbanadhatu) and the nibbana without a basis
remaining {anupadisesa nibbanadhatu).A monk is an arahat whose taints
(asava) are destroyed. He has Hved the life, in which he finished what need to
be done, and laid down the burden, and attained arahartship. By stages, he
destroyed completely the bond of becoming; he is free through knowling
rightly. As his faculties have been demolished the experiences of what is
agreeable disagreeable, he experiences pleasure and pain. The five gates
remain. It is his extinction of lust, hate and delusion that is called the nibbana
element with a basis remaining. Whereas a monk is an aratiat, one whose
taints destroyed, he has lived the life, done what was to be laid down the
burden, and attained arahatship by stages, and destroyed completely the bond
of becoming, he is free through knowing rightly. All his feelings not being
welcomed, not being delighted in (anabJiinanditani), will here and now
become cool. It is called the nibbana element without a basis remaining. Thus
it is said:
These two Nibbana elements are explained
By the seeing one, steadfast and unanttached:
When one element with basis belonging to this life
Remaine, destroyed is that which to becoming leads
When one without that basis manifests
In the hereafter, all becomings cease.
The minds of those who know this unconditional stat
Are delivered by destroying that to which becoming leads:
They realize the Dhamma 's essence and in stillness
Delighting, steadfast they abandon all becoming.^^
A being consists of the five aggregates of mind and matter. They
change incessantly and are therefore impermanent. Whatever is of the nature

*^ Upadi here means the five aggregates

*^ It/vutta, 38-39.

52
of arising, all that is of the nature of ceasing.^'^Lust, hate and delusion in man
bring about repeated existence so it is said that without abandoning lust, hate
and delusion one is not free from birth .
One attains arahatship, it is deliverance even while alive, by rooting
out lust, hate and delusion. As stated above, this is known as the nibbana
element with a basis remaining. The arahat's five aggregates or the remaining
bases are conditioned by the lust, hate and delusion of his infinite past. As he
still lives his aggregates fiinction; he therefore, experiences the pleasant as
well as painfril feelings that his sense faculties entertain though contact with
sense objects. But since he is freed from attachment, discrimination and the
idea of selfhood, he is not moved by these feelings. When an arahat passes
away, his aggregates, his remaining bases cease to fiinction; they break up at
death; his feelings are no more, and because of his eradication of lust, hate,
delusion, he is not reborn, and naturally there is then no more entertaining of
feelings; and therefore is it said that his feeling will become cool.
From the foregoing, the position of the arahat is clear. When a person
totally eradicates the trio that leads to Buddha becoming just lust, hate and
delusion; he is liberated from the shackles of samsara, from repeated
existence. He is free in the fiill sense of the world. He no longer has any
quality which will cause him to be reborn as a living being, because he has
realized nibbana, the entire cessation of continuity and becoming (bhava-
nirodha); he has transcended common or worldly activities and has raised
himself to a state above the world while yet living in the world his actions are
issueless are karmically ineffective, for they are not motivated by the trio, by
the mental defilements (kilesa) he is immune to all evil, to all defilements of
the heart. In him, there are no latent or underlying tendencies (anusaya); he is

*•* I.B.Homer (trans.), 7»e Collection of the Middle Length Sayings, Vol. Ill, 330.
*^ Ahguttara Nikaya„\\ 6, Pali Text Society.

53
beyond good and evil, he had given up both good and bad. He is not worried
by the past, the future not even the present. He clings to nothing in the world
and so is not troubled. He is not perturbed by the vicissitudes of life. His
mind is unshaken by contact with worldly contingencies; he is sorrowless,
taintless and secure (asokan, virajam, khemarh). Thus, nibbana is a 'state'
realizable in this very life (ditthadhamma-nibbana).ThQ thinker, the inquiring
mind, will not find it difficult to understand this state, which can be
postulated only of the arahat and not of any other being, either in this world
or in the realms of heavenly enjoyment.
In nibbana state, there is neither the element of solidity
(expansion),fluidity (cohesion), heat and motion, nor the sphere of infinite
space, nor the sphere of infinite consciousness, nor the sphere of nothingness,
nor the sphere of neither perception nor non perception, neither this world nor
the other, non sun and moon. There is none coming, none going, none
existing, neither death nor birth. Without support, non-existing, without sense
objects are this. This indeed is the end of suffering (dukkha).
It is clearfi"omthe above that this parinibbana (the ultimate nibbana) is
a state where the five aggregates: from feeling; perception, mental formations
and consciousness, and all that pertains to the aggregates have ceased. This,
therefore, is a state where relativity has no place. It is beyond and outside
everything that is relative. It is neither the effect of a cause, nor does it as
cause give rise to an effect. It is neither the path (magga) not the fruit (ptiala).
It is the absolute, the unconditioned, the uncompounded. In the important
discourse of Suttanipata, the Buddha states:
"Nibbana is no lie (no state unreal)
For it is known as truth by the noble ones.
But since they realize that truth

54
 Desireless they pass away"

n.2.4. The Fourth Noble Truth: The Path Leading to the Cessation of
Suffering or the Noble Eightfold Paths

The holy eightfold path (magga) is the middle way of practice leads to the
cessation of dukkha. This section will be confined to a general outline of the
path and its dynamics, and the stages of sanctity reached by it. In the
discourse of Mahasatipatthana Sutta, the Buddha gives very clear definition
about the path leading to the cessation of suffering: '''Ayameva ariyo
atthangiko maggo seyyathidam - sammaditthi sammasankappo sammavaca
sammakammanto sammaajTvo sammavayamo sammasad
sammasamadhr, (This is that Aryan eightfold path, to wit, right view, right
aspiration, right speech, right doing, right livehood, right effort, right
OQ

mindfulness, right rapture) .The path has eight factors, each described as
right or perfect {samma) as followings:
1. Right Understanding (samma-ditthi)
2. Right Thought (samma-samkappa)
3. Right Speech (samma-vaca)
4. Right Action (samma-kammanta)
5. Right Livelihood (samma-ajTva)
6. Right Effort (samma-vayama)
7. Right Mindfulness (samma-sati)
8. Right Concentration (samma-samadhi)
These factors are grouped into three divisions.^^ Factors 3, 4, and 5
pertain to sTla, moral virtue; factors 6, 7, and 8 pertain to samadhi, meditative
cultivation of heart/mind (citta); factors 1 and 2 pertain to paMa, or wisdom.
^ Piyadassi Thera, The Buddha's Ancient Path (DcM: Bharatiya Kala Prakashan,2009),74.
*^ DTgha Nikaya,\\, 312, Pali Text Society.
*" T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.) Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. II, 343.
*' Majjhima- Nikaya, I, 44,Pali Text Society.

55
While lying on his death-bed, addressing the disciples, the Buddha said that
the doctrine and the discipline which he set forth and laid down for his
disciples, let them after the Buddha is gone, be their teacher^", "Yo vo,
ananda, maya dhammo ca vinayo ca desito pannatto, so vo mamaccayena
sattha. Yatha kho panananda, etarahi bhikkhu annamannam avusovadena
samudacaranti, na kho mamaccayena evam samudacaritabbanf'?^
From this, it is quite clear that the Buddha's way of life, his religious
system comprises the doctrine and the discipline. Discipline implies moral
excellence, the taming of the tongue and the bodily actions, the code of
conduct taught in Buddhism. This is generally known as sTla, virtue or moral
training. The doctrine deals with man's mental training, taming of the mind.
The second and the third are meditation or the development of mental
concentration {samadhi), and wisdom {panna). These three, virtue,
concentration and wisdom, are the cardinal teachings which when carefully
and ftilly cultivated raise man from lower to higher levels of mental life; lead
him from darkness to light, from passion to dispassion, from turmoil to
tranquility.
These three are not isolated reactions, but integral parts of the path.
This idea is crystallized in the clear admonition of the enlightened ones of all
ages: "Tease from all evil; cultivate the good; cleanse your own mind"^^.
Referring to this path, in his first discourse,^^the Buddha called it the
middle path (majjhimapatipada), because it avoids two extremes: indulgence
in sensual pleasures which is low, worldly and leads to harm is one extreme;
self-torture in the form of severe asceticism which is painftil, low and leads to

'" T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.) Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. II, 171.
" DTgha Nikaya,\\ 154, Pali Text Society.
^^^'Sabba papassa akranarh-kusalassa upasampada; Sacittapariyodapanarii-etarh buddhana
asamam {Dhammadapa, 183).
'^ Samyutta Nikaya, IV 420, Pali Text Society.

56
harm is the other.
Living in the palace amidst song and dance, luxury and pleasure, the
Bodhisatta knew by experience that sense pleasures do not lead mankind to
true happiness and deliverance. Six years of rigorous mortification, which he,
as an ascetic, so zealously practiced in search of purification and final deli-
verance, brought him no reward. It was a vain and useless effort. Avoiding
these two extremes, he followed a path of moral and mental training and
through self-experience discovered the middle path consisting of the three
groups.
The path of virtue, concentration and wisdom is referred to in the
discourse as the threefold training (tividhasikkha) 2iVA none of them is an end
in itself; each is a means to an end. One cannot function independently of the
others. Just as a tripod falls to the ground if a single leg gives; so here one
cannot function without the support of the others. These three go together
supporting each other. Virtue or regulated behavior strengthens meditation
and meditation in turn promotes wisdom. Wisdom helps one to get rid of the
clouded view of things in order to see life as it really is and to see life and all
things pertaining to life as arising and passing away.
It is now quite clear that in the interplay of doctrine and discipline
{dhammavinaya) or knowledge and conduct (vijjacarana) ihQ two constitute a
single process of growth. As hand washes hand, and foot washes foot, so does
conduct purify wisdom and wisdom conduct. This fact maybe borne in mind
by students of Buddhism as there is a tendency especially in academic circles
to regard the teachings of the Buddha as mere speculation, as a mere doctrine
of metaphysics without practical value or importance.
The Buddhist way of life, however, is an intense process of cleansing
one's speech, action and thought. It is self-development and self-purification.
The emphasis is on practical result and not mere philosophical speculation,

57
logical abstraction or even mere cogitation. In strong language, the Buddha
did warn his followers against mere book learning. Thus, he says that if one
recites only a little of the sacred texts, but acts in accordance with the
teaching, abandoning lust, hate and delusion, possessed of right
understanding, his mind entirely released and clinging to nothing here or
hereafter, he shares the fruits of the tranquil man^'^:
"Appampi ce saiiihita bhasamano
Dhammassa hoti anudhammacm
Raganca dosanca pahaya moham
Sammappajano suvimuttacitto
Anupadiyano idha vahuram va
Sa bhagava samannassa hoti'^^
These are clear indications that the Buddhist way of life, Buddhist
method of grasping the highest truth, awakening from ignorance to ftiU
knowledge, does not depend on mere academic intellectual development, but
on a practical teaching that leads the follower to enlightenment and final
deliverance. The Buddha is such a seer, and his path in deliverance is open to
all who have eyes to see and minds to understand. It is different from other
paths to salvation; for the Buddha teaches that each individual, whether
layman or monk, is solely responsible for his own liberation. Mankind is
caught in a tangle, inner as well as outer, and the Buddha gives an infallible
remedy^^, in brief, that if a prudent man, full of effort, established well in
virtue, develops concentration and wisdom; he will succeed in solving the
tangle:
"The man discreet, on virtue planted firm,

''' Daw Mya Tin, (trans). The Dhawmapada: Verses & Stories (Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications,
1990), 8.
'^ Dhammadapa, 20..
STlepatitthaya naro sapanfio, cittani pannanca bhavayam;
AtapTnipako bhikkhu, so imam vijafayejatam. {Samyutta NiliSya, I, 13„Pali Text Society.)

58
 In intellect and intuition trained; ^^
The brother ardent and discriminate:
Tis he mayfromthis tangle disembroil."^^
The Buddha's foremost admonition to his sixty immediate arahat
disciples was that the dhamma should be promulgated for the welfare and
happiness of many. The whole dispensation of the master is permeated with
that salient quality of universal loving compassion. Virtue {sila), the initial
stage of the path, is based on this loving compassion. To abstain from evil
and to do the good is the function of sTla and the code of conduct taught in
Buddhism. This function is never void of loving compassion. STla embraces
within it qualities of the heart, such as love, modesty, tolerance, pity, charity
and happiness at the success of others. Samadhi (concentration) and patina
(wisdom) are concerned with the discipline of the mind.
As stated above, three factors of the eightfold path 3, 4 and 5, from the
Buddhist code of conduct (sTla). They are right speech, right action and right
livelihood.
Right speech is to abstain from falsehood and always speak the truth;
from tale-bearing which brings about discord and disharmony, and to speak
words that are conducive to concord and harmony; from harsh and abusive
speech, and instead to speak kind and refined words; and from ideal chatter,
vain talk or gossip and instead to speak words which are meaningful and
blameless.^^
Right action is abstention from killing, stealing, and illicit sexual
indulgence, and cultivating compassion, talking only things that are given,
and living pure and chaste.'°°
Right livelihood is abandoning wrong ways of living which bring harm

' Developing concentration and insight

'^ Mrs.C..A..F..Rhys Davids, (trans.), The Book of the Kindred Sayings, Vol.1, 20.
" Mahasasipatthana Sutta, 73.
'o^ibid

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and suffering to others: Trafficking in arms and lethal weapons, in animals
for slaughter, in human beings i.e. dealing in slaves which was prevalent
during the time of the Buddha, in intoxicating drinks and poisons, and living
by a profession which is blameless and free from harm to oneself and others.
101

From this outline of Buddhist ethics, it is clear that the code of conduct
set forth by the Buddha is no mere negative prohibition but an affirmation of
doing good—a carrier paved with good intentions for the welfare and
happiness of all mankind. These moral principles aim at making society
secure by promoting unity, harmony and right relations among people.
This code of conduct (sTla) is the first stepping stone of the Buddhist
way of life. It is the basis for mental development. One who is intent on
meditation or concentration of mind must develop a love of virtue; for it is
virtue that nourishes mental life and makes it steady and calm.
The next stage in the path to deliverance in mental culture,
concentration (samadhi) includes three other factors of the eightfold path.
They are right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.
Right effort is the persevering endeavor to prevent the arising of evil
and unwholesome thoughts that have not yet arisen in a man's mind, to
discard such evil thoughts already arisen, to produce and develop wholesome
thoughts not yet arisen and to promote and maintain the good thoughts
already present .The function of this sixth factor, therefore, is to be vigilant
and check all unhealthy thoughts, and to cultivate, promote and maintain
wholesome and pure thoughts arising in a man's mind. The prudent man who
masters his speech and his physical actions through sTla (virtue) now makes
every endeavor to scrutinize his thoughts, his mental factors, and to avoid

"" Ibid.,74
'°^ MahasasipatthSna Sutta, 73.

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distracting thoughts.
Right mindfulness is the application or arousing of attention in regard
to the activities of the body (Kayanupassana), feelings or sensations
(vedananupassana), the activities of the mind (cittanupassana) and mental
objects (dhammanupassana^^^.As these factors of the path are interdependent
and cooperating, Right mindfulness aids right effort and together they can
check the arising of unwholesome thoughts and develop the good and
wholesome thoughts already entertained. The man vigilant in regard to his
actions, verbal, physical and mental, avoids all that is detrimental to his
mental (spiritual) progress. Such a one cannot be mentally indolent and
supine. Mindfulness plays an important role in the process leading to
enlightenment or nibbana. The Buddha states that mindfulness is the way to
the deathless {nibbana), unmindfulness is the way to death. Those who are
mindful do not die; those who are not mindful are as if already deadi'^"*
"Appamado amatapadam
Pamado maccimo padaih
Appamattana mFyanti
Ye pamatta yatha mata""^^
Right concentration is the intensified steadiness of the mind
comparable to the unflickering flame of a lamp in a windless place. It is
concentration that fixes the mind right and causes it to be unmoved and
undisturbed. The correct practice of Samadhi (concentration or mental
discipline) maintains the mind and the mental properties in a state of balance.
Many are the mental impediments that confi"ont a yogi, a meditator, but with
the support of right effort and right mindfulness the fully concentrated mind
is capable of dispelling the impediments, the passions that disturb man. The

'"Mbid.TS.
"*'' Daw Mya Tin, (trans), The Dhammapada: Verses & Stories (Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications,
1990), 9.
"" Dhammadapa, 21.

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perfectly concentrated mind is not distracted by sense objects, for it sees
things as they really are, in not distracted by sense objects, for it sees things
as they really are, in their proper perspective.
Thus mastering the mind, and not allowing the mind to master him, the
yogi cultivates true wisdom (panna) which consists of the first two factors
and the final stage of the path, namely, right understanding and right thought,
Thought includes thoughts of renunciation, good will, and of compassion or
non-harm. These thoughts are to be cultivated and extended towards all living
beings irrespective of race, caste, clan or creed. As they embrace all that
breathes there are no compromising limitations. The radiation of such
ennobling thoughts is not possible for one who is egocentric and selfish.
A man may be intelligent, erudite and learned, but if he lacks right
thoughts, he is, according to the teachings of the Buddha, not a man of
understanding and insight. If we view things with dispassionate discernment,
we will understand that selfless desire, understanding or true wisdom is
always permeated with right thoughts and never bereft of them.
Right understanding, in the ultimate sense is to understand life as it
really is. For this, one needs a clean comprehension of the four noble truths,
namely: the truth of dukkha, the arising of dukkha, the cessation of dukkha,
and the path leading to the cessation of dukkha. Right understanding or
penetrative wisdom is the result of continued and steady practice of
meditation or carefiil cultivation of the mind. To one endowed with right
understanding it is impossible to have a clouded view of phenomena, for he is
immune to all impurities and has attained the unshakable deliverance of the
mind (akuppa ceto vimutti).
We will now be able to understand how the three groups, virtue,
concentration and wisdom, fianction together for one common end:
deliverance of the mind (ceto vimutti) and how through genuine cultivation

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of man's mind, and through control of actions, both physical and verbal,
purity is attained. It is through self-exertion and self-development that the
aspirant secures freedom, and not through praying to and petitioning an
external agency. This indeed is the dhamma discovered by the Buddha, made
use of by him for fiill enlightenment and revealed to the others:
"Stlam samSdhipanna ca, vimutti ca anuttara;
Anubuddha ime dhamma, gotamena yasassina.
ti buddho abhinnaya; dhammamakkhasi bhikkhunam;
Dukkhassantakaro sattha, cakkhuma parinlbbuto' '"^^
"Righteousness, earnest thought, wisdom, and freedom sublime
These are the truths realized by Gotama, far-renowned.
Knowing them, he, the knower, proclaimed the truth to the brethren.
The master with eye divine, the quencher of griefs, is at peace."'"^
In short, four Noble truths are the central concept of Buddhism. What
the Buddha taught during his ministry of forty-five years embraces these
truths, namely: dukkha, (suffering), its arising, its cessation and the way out
of this unsatisfactory state. In which, the last and the fourth truth is the noble
eightfold path which is the only aspect which deals with practice. Whatever
there is to be practiced, to be cultivated, in Buddhism, comes within the scope
of the eightfold path. The path is a summary of the means that enable us to
get out of this tangle of sarhsara and realize nibbana which is the only
unconditioned dhamma in Buddhism. Hence, it is necessary to bear in mind
that the path does not function as the cause and condition of nibbana. It is
only a means to it.There are no short-cuts to real peace and happiness. As the
Buddha has pointed out in many sermons, this is the only path which leads to
the highest point of the good life, which goes from lower to higher levels of
the mental realms. It is a gradual training, a training in speech, deed and

106 / - , -
DFgha Mkaya,ll,l23, Pali Text Society.
107
T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.) Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol. II, 132.

63
thought which brings about true wisdom culminating in fiill enlightenment
and the realization of ni'bbana. It is a path for all, irrespective of race, class or
creed, a path to be cultivated every moment of our waking life as the Buddha
states:'"^
"In whatsoever doctrine and discipline, Subhadda, the Aryan eightfold path is not
found, neither in it is there found a man of true saintliness of the first, or of the
second, or of the third, or of the fourth degree. And in whatsoever doctrine and
discipline, Subhadda, the Aryan eightfold path is found, in it is found the man of
true saintliness of the first, and the second, and the third, and the fourth degree.
Now in this doctrine and discipline, Subhadda, is found the Aryan eightfold path,
and in it too, are found, Subhadda, the men of true saintliness of all the four
degrees."'°^

lOS
" Yasmim kho, subhadda, dhammavinaye ariyo affhangiko maggo na upalabbhati, samanopi
tattha na upalabbhati. Dutiyopi tattha samano na upalabbhati. Tatiyopi tattha samano na
upalabbhati Catutthopi tattha samano na upalabbhati YasmiUca kho, subhadda, dhammavinaye
ariyo atthahgiko maggo upalabbhati, samanopi tattha upalabbhati, dutiyopi tattha samano
upalabbhati, tatiyopi tattha samano upalabbhati, catutthopi tattha samario upalabbhati Imasmiiji
kho, subhadda, dhammavinaye ariyo atthahgiko maggo upalabbhati, idheva, subhadda, samano,
idha dutiyo samano, idha tatiyo samano, idha catuttho samano.. "D., ii, 151
"" T.W.Rhys Davids (trans.) Dialogues of the Buddha, Vol.'ll, 166-167.

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